


Lo To Gladness, Turn From Sadness

by pandorabox82



Category: Criminal Minds (US TV)
Genre: 12 Daysof Ficmas
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-25
Updated: 2021-01-25
Packaged: 2021-03-17 22:47:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,865
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28982091
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pandorabox82/pseuds/pandorabox82
Summary: Jessica knew that rescuing Erin from embarrassment at their office Christmas party might lead to some awkward truths come the morning.





	Lo To Gladness, Turn From Sadness

Jessica couldn't help but wonder if someone had spiked the eggnog at their company Christmas party. Normally, it wouldn't matter, but ever since Erin had joined the office, Jessica had been hyper vigilant in keeping an eye on her. Because while she knew the woman vaguely from Haley's funeral, she also knew that she was supposed to be dead. Jessica had watched Jack that Saturday, so Aaron could attend her funeral, and it had been a complete shock to Jessica's system when she had appeared one day as Camille Behrens. Which told Jessica that she was part of Witness Protection, just like Aaron and Jack now were, and that she would do her best to protect the woman so that she wouldn't be moved again.

That had been six months ago, and they had started up an easy friendship, much to her surprise, though Erin never mentioned knowing her from anywhere. Again, Jessica knew that was a good thing, because their knowing each other would lead to her having to pack up and move again. But now, it seemed like the worst thing that could happen to her was happening. It had started with a slight slurring of her words when she'd passed by Jessica on the arm of the office lech, and had led to her currently being goaded into doing things that Jessica knew she would be embarrassed to have done when she had a clear head.

Glaring at Bob from accounting, Jessica pushed her way close to Erin's side before gently taking hold of her hand and guiding her through the crowd until they were in Jessica's office. She pushed Erin down into her chair before crouching in front of the older woman, a sad frown on her lips. "I think that I'll be having a discussion with HR when we're back from holiday break. We're supposed to be adults here, and this is far from an adult decision. You are going to have such a headache come the morning. Where did you leave your coat?"

"In my office," she slurred out, and Jessica nodded as she got to her feet.

"All right, I'll put on my coat, and then we'll go grab your things. You're coming home with me tonight, as I do not trust you to be alone." Erin frowned at her as she lolled her head a bit, looking drunker by the moment. Jessica knew that as soon as lucidity came to her, she would be furious with their coworkers, as they had just ruined years of progress for her. Jessica was not about to allow the self-destructive spiral take over her life once more, but that meant she might have to reveal certain things about their previous lives. It was a sticky wicket of a situation, and Jessica hoped that she could somehow get them out of it before anything too terrible happened.

Standing up, Jessica grabbed her purse and coat, hurriedly putting it on before helping Erin to her feet, bringing her over to the door. "Why are you doing this?"

"Because someone needs to look out for you, and it might as well be me," Jessica replied truthfully as she spread her hand out on the small of Erin's back. It was a quick walk to the other woman's office, and then Jessica was helping her into her coat before bringing her down to the parking lot and over to her car. It was surprisingly difficult to get her into the passenger seat, but it was finally done, and then Jessica was dropping behind the wheel and shaking her head as she began to drive home.

At some point, Erin had fallen asleep, and the gentle snores made Jessica smile as she went along. Pulling into her garage a few minutes later, Jessica turned her car off before turning to look at Erin, wondering how she'd get her into her house. Knowing there was no other way, Jessica reached out and shook Erin's shoulder until she was blinking her eyes open. "What?"

"We've reached my house, so let's get you inside," she said as warmly as she could, keeping a sweet smile on her lips so as not to startle Erin. The other woman nodded drunkenly, and Jessica felt her heart crack a little wider at that sight, more determined now to see that whoever spiked the eggnog pay for their stupid decision. It was difficult to get Erin inside, since she was inebriated and not as cooperative as she would normally be. "Oh, Erin, what are we going to do?" she murmured as they slowly made their way upstairs.

"I'm not Erin, I'm Camille. Even if I don't feel like a Camille. I used to be Grace, too, but that name went away when I moved here."

Jessica sucked in a quick breath as she realized what she had just said, hopeful that Erin wouldn't remember the slip in the morning. "Camille is a nice name, though. If I had ever had a daughter, I might have chosen that for her. I just never had the opportunity for a family."

"I had three children once. I lost them, too, because of the mistakes I made when I was younger." Jessica listened to Erin's breath catch in her throat and knew that the woman was close to crying, so she hurried them over to the bedroom and brought her over to the bed, pushing her down on the mattress gently. "Jessica?"

She nodded as she looked down into her eyes. "What do you need?"

"I forgot. My brain feels fuzzy." Jessica clucked sympathetically in the back of her throat as she reached out and stroked Erin's hair lightly. They exchanged brief smiles before Jessica went over to her dresser and opened the pyjama drawer, pulling out two sets for them before going back to Erin's side. Jessica blinked rapidly as she tried to avert her gaze from the pale flesh of Erin's upper body, the lacy lilac bra not really concealing anything from her eyes. "I can't get my bra unhooked. My fingers don't want to work."

"I'll get it for you, Er-Camille." Sighing a little, Jessica dropped the pyjamas onto the bed before leaning into Erin's space and deftly unhooking the lacy bra, her mind desperately trying to think pure, chaste, thoughts as she pulled the garment off her shoulders and dropped it on top of her coat and blouse. Reaching down, Jessica picked up the first pyjama top her fingers touched and pulled it over Erin's head, trying not to look at her breasts, even as the backs of her hands brushed against them. "I, I'm going to slip into the bathroom to change and take off my makeup. I'll be right back," she stammered out as she grabbed her set of pyjamas and fairly fled her bedroom.

After closing the door, Jessica dropped down onto the toilet and tried to take a few deep breaths. This was not how she had ever envisaged this happening, but there was nothing she could do about it now. Letting out a long, shallow, breath, she got to her feet once more and slipped out of her dress, taking care to hang it on the plush hanger on the back of the door before shimmying out of her underwear and changing into the pyjamas. Jessica was just smoothing the shirt down over her torso when the doorknob rattled, and she gasped lightly as the door opened to reveal Erin there, a pained look on her face.

"I think I'm going to be sick," she said lowly as brushed past Jessica to fall heavily to the floor in front of the toilet before starting to retch. A well of sympathy rose up in Jessica's breast as she went over to Erin's side and took a seat on the edge of the tub before brushing back the older woman's hair so that it wouldn't get messed up while she was sick. Once it seemed like Erin was done throwing up, Jessica rose to her feet and poured a glass of cool water, handing it over before wetting a washcloth and delicately cleaning Erin's face free from the remnants of what she'd expelled.

"Do you feel better now?"

"A little," Erin replied as she shakily rose to her feet. "I'm sorry that you have to see me like this. It is so embarrassing."

"It's not your fault," she said, taking hold of Erin's hand and guiding her back to the bedroom. Once there, she motioned for Erin to stretch out on the bed while she took care of the discarded clothing, trying not to blush when she realized that the woman was also completely naked beneath her pyjamas. Knowing that there was nothing she could do about the blush, Jessica set the clothes on her dresser before padding softly back to the bed, intent on just grabbing her pillow so that she could go sleep on the sofa. To her surprise, Erin's hand shot up and closed around her wrist, tugging her down onto the bed without even saying a word. "Camille?"

"Stay? Just in case I feel ill again?"

She knew that she couldn't refuse that sweet request, so she nodded and stretched out next to Erin. "I'm not going to set an alarm for the morning, since I hadn't planned on getting up early tomorrow. Will that be all right?"

"Yes," came the tired reply, and Jessica smiled at the sound, knowing that Erin was close to drifting off to sleep. As soon as she heard Erin's breathing even out, Jessica felt like she could relax a little more and she turned onto her side to look at Erin. There was an air of sadness that clung to her even in slumber, and Jessica felt her heart break with the knowledge that life had been so cruel to Erin.

Reaching out, she ran her fingers through Erin's hair, letting out a soft sigh as she, too, fell into a quick and easy rest. A few hours later, Jessica woke up, feeling overly warm in the best possible way, and she glanced around for the source. Turning her head, she saw that at some point, she had turned away from Erin and the woman had spooned up against her back. Sighing with pleasure, Jessica scooted closer to Erin as she drifted back to sleep. The next thing she was aware of was the sunlight streaming into her room. As Jessica stretched a little, she noticed that she could feel a soft hand on one of her breasts, and she let out a pleasurable groan as she reached up and covered Erin's hand and pressed it down more firmly on her chest. "Good morning," she mumbled out as Erin swiped her thumb over her nipple, causing it to pucker into a tight bud.

"Good morning. What happened last night?"

Jessica reluctantly turned over so that she could look at Erin, wondering just how much she would be able to tell her. "It seems like someone thought that it would be funny to spike the eggnog last night, and you had a few too many. I rescued you from making a few bad decisions, and brought you here rather than have you spend the night alone. It was a surprise to wake up and find myself wrapped up in your arms."

A faint blush stole across Erin's features as she looked away from Jessica's eyes. "I haven't been in the same bed as another woman since I was Erin. But that was before you knew me."

"I'm sorry?"

Erin took a deep breath before she looked back into Jessica's eyes, a spot of sadness still in her expression. "I was trying to remember why I knew you for the last six months. After all, you always called me Camille. Until last night, when your guard dropped, and called me Erin. It felt familiar, but I guess that I was too drunk to piece it together until just now. You're Aaron's sister in law."

"I was hoping that you wouldn't recognize me. I don't want you to have to be moved again, I remember how awful that was for Haley and Jack. At least Aaron knows how to stay low, and I only hear from him through his handler." She smiled sadly as she tried to scoot away from Erin, only for the older woman to hold her in place. "Camille…"

"Erin. It has been so long since I've heard my name, my true name, and I think that we're safe here. I'm just so fucking angry that I lost seven years progress in my sobriety."

"Which is why I'm going to go to HR come Monday so that I can complain and hopefully that person will face disciplinary actions. But don't we have to talk to your handler? I don't want to screw up another part of your life."

"I will have to touch base with them, yes. But not today. Not when I'm experiencing my first spot of true happiness in ages." Before she could respond, Jessica found Erin getting into her personal space and kissing hers tenderly. "Aaron would be so shocked to see this turn of events. He only ever truly saw me as this stuck up bitch who wanted everyone to suffer."

"No, Erin. He respected you so much. I think that he just had to wear a certain mask at work. Though he would be a bit shocked to see us kiss. He never asked, but I am a lesbian. I just never found the right woman, and then I was helping take care of Haley and Jack, and then it was my dad. Once he passed, I moved here, and four months later, you waltz into my life."

"That certain I'm the right woman?" Erin asked saucily, and Jessica shrugged a little. "Jess?"

"I just think that I might want to explore something between us, since that kiss of yours felt right." Erin nodded before she leaned in and kissed her once more. "And if I have to change my life a little to accommodate your needs, I'm more than willing to do that. Aaron and Jack are my only real remaining family, so there's no one that I would need to worry about."

Erin reached out and caressed her face softly. "You are incredibly sweet, Jessica. But we should first see if we're compatible before you start to worry about cutting yourself off from everyone and everything that you love." She nodded before taking the initiative and kissing Erin this time, her hand sliding up her back so that she could dig her fingers into her thick hair, holding her in place so that she could deepen the kiss. Jessica felt Erin chuckle against her mouth before nipping at her lower lip indelicately. "I, however, am not that sweet. And I like to be in charge."

"And sometimes it is fun to give up control to another person," she shot back before kissing Erin once more, using her hips to knock Erin gently onto her back so she could straddle her as she looked down into Erin's eyes. There was more than a bit of lust evident in her expression, and Jessica felt a corresponding throb in her core as she relaxed into a grin. "After all, sometimes the greatest relief comes from losing control."

"We'll have to see about that." Jessica felt her brow furrow in confusion, only to let out a small gasp when Erin managed to get her turned onto her back, a wicked smirk on her lips as she began to pepper Jessica's face with soft kisses. "I wondered why I was drawn to you, but now I know. This would cause such a scandal, were we still in the same place we were a decade ago."

"Scandals can be nice," she murmured out as Erin's lips began to travel down her neck, nipping at the tendon that connected neck and shoulder. The sharp little pain was alleviated moments later by Erin's tongue tracing along that line and causing her to squirm a little. "Erin!"

"I know, Jessica, but it will be better soon. You just have to trust me." Erin looked up into her face, a hesitant expression mixing with the desire, and Jessica nodded as she reached out and stroked Erin's hair softly, trying to let her know that everything was going to be all right.

"I think that we have to mutually trust each other here, Erin. But that's a good thing, because I haven't had someone to trust like this in too long. And I think that I'd love to be able to trust you and have you trust me, too." She smiled shyly at Erin, wondering how she would take that small declaration. Thankfully, Erin nodded as she returned the shy smile, and then leaned in to kiss Jessica with a softness that spoke to how the rest of the morning would go. "Lead on to gladness," Jessica whispered, cooing a little as Erin nodded and began to kiss her gently once more, bringing a soft pleasure to Jessica as they found their gladness together.


End file.
